Time editor suspended for calling Obama ‘kind of a dick’

Speaking on Obama’s Wednesday press conference, Halperin summed it up saying, “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” which sent host Joe Scarborough scrambling, “Delay that. Delay that. What are you doing? I can’t believe… don’t do that. Did we delay that?” Working quickly Scarborough shifted the blame to the new guy in the control booth, and his inability to operate the delay button.

Everyone’s calling it a gaffe, despite the fact that Halperin’s statement was obviously intentional, albeit lighthearted. Either way, it wasn’t exactly a graceful move and he issued and apology minutes later, saying, “Joking aside, this is an absolute apology, heartfelt to the president and to the viewers. I became part of the joke and I made a mistake…I apologize to the president and the viewers who heard me say that.”

MSNBC issued a statement suspending Halperin as an analyst:

Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.